YouTube continues to strengthen its online presence and, according to Bloomberg, the content-sharing site tripled advertising sales on mobile devices in the past six months, contributing an estimated $350 million to its revenue.
VP of sales at YouTube, Lucas Watson, told Bloomberg that almost a quarter of its billion users access its service via mobile devices, increasing spending to reach those viewers. "The commercial business has exploded. It's a huge part of our business, and we know that's where it's headed," Watson said.
Mike Sharman, owner of digital communications agency Retroviral, says the increase in mobile YouTube consumption has been meteoric. "Money is made from where the eyeballs are at."
Sharman says this is just the beginning of YouTube's ad growth. "I wouldn't be surprised if we hear reports of figures of 150 hours of video being uploaded every minute or that ad revenue is up 50% from those figures that have tripled."
Catching up
The local version of YouTube was made available in July 2010, making SA the 16th country to join the content-sharing site's official partner programme (YPP). The programme allows local partners to reap financial rewards from ads placed with their uploaded original videos.
Partners receive a portion of the revenue generated from ads that run next to their videos. Each click on the video earns revenue for the partner.
While Google SA does not have figures on its mobile ad revenue, it says, in 2012, revenue given back to South African partners increased by 60% year-on-year.
Existing local partners earn between R30 000 and R50 000 per month and generate up to 70 million views. It adds that YouTube visits grew by 80%, while uploads grew by 30%.
YouTube partnership manager at Google SA, Jared Molko, says, in sub-Saharan Africa, YouTube views rose by 90% and video uploads grew by 40% from the previous year, with SA leading the region with the most playbacks.
But Sharman says South African brands are still not doing enough on YouTube. "We have had limitations in the past with what we can and can't do with YouTube ads. But Google continues to grow its local YouTube team as well as the spectrum of options available for advertisers, so I look forward to what we will be able to achieve in SA over the next 18 months."
He adds that it's all about creating the right formula, and that this has not really been achieved locally. "Examples such as the Tippex interactive Hunter versus Bear campaign were previously impossible to activate in SA."
Tuning in
Last month, mobile operator MTN launched the first YouTube custom channel in Africa to help it effectively deliver localised content.
With a community of more than a billion unique users every month, YouTube's custom channels provide additional features for brands to push their content in new ways. While any advertiser can use YouTube, custom channels have added benefits, including branding, gadgets and client services.
Google SA country director Luke Mckend says YouTube offers companies a digital platform to build their brands, innovate and test their creativity. "MTN is leading the way as the first brand in Africa to create a custom channel. Even though MTN is a pan-African operator, YouTube gives MTN the flexibility to custom and localise content for different parts of the continent."
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